Word: newton
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...summer of 1974, Newton had established himself as sole leader of the Panthers. But that was also the summer in which he got involved in several incidents of bizarre violence...
...according to the account given by Assistant District Attorney Thomas Orloff, Newton was riding along in a new Lincoln Continental, when he was accosted by a group of prostitutes. One of the prostitutes called out something like "Hey, baby!" Newton jumped out of the car, Orloff says, and began arguing with one of them, Kathleen Smith, 17. The others ran. When they heard a shot fired, they turned back and saw Smith lying on the ground, shot in the head. The girl lingered in a coma for 96 days before she died...
...days later, according to Orloff, the dapper Newton was being visited in his penthouse by his tailor, Preston Callins. They began arguing about the price of suits. When Newton complained that he was being ripped off, Callins said, "Oh, baby, don't feel that way." Once again, apparently, the faintly belittling word infuriated Newton. "Nobody calls me no damn baby!" he cried. He seized a revolver, according to Orloff, and pistol whipped Callins, fracturing his skull...
Police charged Newton with assault, but he contacted the FBI and claimed that he was a target of the underworld. He said the Mafia had put a $10,000 price on his head because he was resisting Mafia drug pushing (the FBI expresses polite skepticism about this). Then Newton disappeared, in part to avoid the charges against him. He surfaced a year later in Cuba, and there he lived for the next two years, working in a cement factory...
During his absence, the Panthers came under the leadership of Newton's friend Elaine Brown, who urged the Panthers to put more emphasis on traditional politics. Brown ran for the Oakland city council in 1973 and 1975, finishing second both times. She also served as a Jerry Brown delegate to the 1976 Democratic Convention...